TALESPINNERS - April, 2001

Here's To a Great Summer in the Kitfox V
by Mark Webb

It seems like it’s been a long time coming, but I wanted to give everyone an update on my Project, the Kitfox V. Except for some fine tuning and balancing of the wheel pants, it is finally complete. What a relief! I am finally able to enjoy my time in the plane while it is in the air and not just on the ground. I have been flying it for 10+ hours and I am looking forward to the upcoming fly-outs and making my first flight to Oshkosh this summer.

I knew when the crates were first dropped off the truck in front of my house, that this project would take a lot of time, patience, and endurance to complete, but what I realized after getting started, was that I would look to others for help during this project. My project, a labor of so many things, was completed successfully with the assistance of these others:

Thanks to Roger Augenstein (he is also building a Fitfox V) for being there to talk things through and they say things are always “cheaper by the dozen”, but in our case, we found things to be cheaper “by the two’s”.

Thanks to Gary Collins for letting me look through his garage for scraps and giving me some of his expert advice.

Thanks to Stuart Faber for use of his trailer in moving the plane and parts from my garage to the hanger and then my garage to the paint booth and from my garage to the…you all know how that goes.

Thanks to Mike Franzago and Scott Hersha for giving their time and airplanes in assisting me with the tail wheel endorsement.

Thanks to John Mugavin for use of his paint shop and expert damage repair.

Thanks to Dave Raney, as my instruments might have only looked good in the panel, but with his help, they work pretty good too.

Thanks to the departed Cas Porowski. With Cas’s help, I was able to get the Subaru engine installed on the Kitfox. He made the engine mount, specially designed muffler, and other unique items for the plane.

Thanks to Howard Wells. Howard first introduced me to Cas and as we all know, has the hands-on knowledge, expertise, and patience to help anyone through the rough and not so rough spots in any project. (I know that Howard’s phone log was full with calls from me.) He also let me search through his garage for some of those hard to find goodies. Thanks again, Howard.

And finally Thanks to the rest of the EAA Chapter 174 members that I haven’t mentioned, for the fellowship, interest, and encouragement that I received from all of you along the way. If you see me up in the Hanger, stop in and take a look.

Mark Webb